


Her Name was Maria

by MarvelousMenagerie (HiddenOne)



Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2018 [3]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Gathering the infinity stones, Gen, Memory Loss, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 02:18:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16108727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenOne/pseuds/MarvelousMenagerie
Summary: The soul stone was weary of death, but it still required a price.





	Her Name was Maria

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Tony Stark bingo: A3 - free space.

“Vormir,” Nebula announces as she lands the Milano.

Vormir is a dark and desolate planet, very different to the chaos of Earth. It’s so quiet here, Tony notes, as he slips in the sand and stumbles into a shallow pool. The sound of the splash carries across the field of puddles, and Thor lays a steadying hand on Tony’s shoulder.

Tony hates the Milano for what it represents - it was the Milano’s walls that he stared at on the ride back from Titan, trying to figure out how he could’ve done better, what was happening back on Earth, how was he going to _fix this_? - but Tony will gladly walk back up that ramp if it means they’re done here.

The crazy lightning storm guides their way. Tony is sick to death of magic and what magic can do - half the universe couldn’t have disappeared with a snap of someone’s fingers if it hadn’t been for magic - but at least magic gives obvious clues.

At the edge of the storm, at the base of the mountain, a figure wreathed in black greets them.

Tony startles, too tired to hide his reaction.

“Out of all the things to survive the snap, it had to be you,” Tony sneers.

“I am bound to this place, cursed,” the Red Skull replies flatly.

Tony is glad that it’s Thor at his side and not Steve, who had also wanted to come. But Steve was needed as a voice of reason in a chaotic Earth, trying to keep a fracturing team together in the wake of destruction. Tony would’ve stayed too, but the mess of the Accords - and how small that issue seems now, with half the universe gone - still seems to carry over with Tony representing dissention itself at times.

So Tony left, with Nebula as a guide and Thor as an insistent companion. Thor had done the most work out of all of them, traveling the universe and helping regather the infinity stones while the rest of the Avengers simply tried to keep Earth intact. They’d saved the soul stone for last because it took convincing Nebula with the other five that it was worth it to lead them to where her sister died.

They needed to show Nebula that this plan of action, this journey, was worth confronting how Gamora died.

“Gamora was the sacrifice?” Nebula spits when the Red Skull details out the terms. When they learn the price to pay for the power of the soul stone. “How dare… that wasn’t love! It _wasn’t_!”

The Red Skull doesn’t answer, simply floats in front of them. Thor walks to the edge and leans over, looking down at the drop. He walks back to them with a solemn face and crossed arms.

Nebula turns her back to them, but doesn’t run.

“I… do not know if any left alive will fulfill the price on my end,” Thor says softly. “Perhaps in time, we would’ve progressed to that, but now…”

Tony takes in a shaky breath. Thor has already lost those he loves. His parents. His brother. His Warrior’s Three. Thor has already lost so much, and it fuels his quest to regather the infinity stones and confront Thanos again for what will be a third and potentially final time.

Pepper. Rhodey. Happy. _Peter_.

Tony has already lost Peter and Happy to the snap. Rhodey is still alive, as is Pepper. Can he sacrifice one of them? Give up one that he loves to gain the soul stone and have a shot at repairing the universe?

No, he can’t. But if they went and got Rhodey, then Tony is sure that _Tony_ could be the sacrifice. Rhodey loves him. Pepper does too, but Tony wouldn’t drag her to Volomir to watch him die. Rhodey would hate him forever for it, but Rhodey would do it since the universe is at stake.

“We might have to come back. No hidden feelings for you, sorry Sparky,” Tony forces out.

Thor’s lips twitch, but it’s only a momentary break in the seriousness of his face. “I would not ask that of you, Tony.”

“The universe is. _Thanos_ is. This fucking stone is,” Tony says, shaking the heaviness of the future off for a single second so that he has the energy to be angry.

He, Thor, Nebula, everyone left in the universe has lost so much. And now this stone demands one more? Wasn’t half the universe enough to pay the price?

Thunder booms and lightning crackles overhead. Tony raises an eyebrow at Thor, who shakes his head in innocence. Thor has nothing to do with this storm.

“The soul stone does not rejoice in death. It asks for a sacrifice, so that the wielder understands the cost of power,” the Red Skull says.

“Yeah that clearly worked so well as a failsafe last time,” Tony sneers.

“Then perhaps more death is not necessary,” Thor muses, his cloak whipping in the wind that picks up. He looks to the storm rather than the Red Skull. “Would a memory of a loved one suffice? I would also consider that a sacrifice.”

The lines on Thor’s face cast shadows as lightning sparks again. It takes several moments for the Red Skull to answer.

“The stone would require all your memories of them,” the Red Skull says, voice flat. “It appears the stone is also weary of death.”

Tony lays a hand on Thor’s arm to stop Thor from saying anything else. Tony closes his eyes for a second, then opens them.

“I got it, big guy,” Tony says quietly underneath the rumbling of the clouds overhead.

“Tony, I could not let -”

“You have hundreds of years left to be affected,” Tony points out. “And if this plan works, then someone who knows precisely what your brother is capable of needs to be around to keep an eye on him. I have a feeling _you_ forgetting anything is likely to cause many more issues in the future.”

Bruce had told Tony a few stories about how Bruce and Thor had met up again on Sakaar and what had happened before their ship ran into Thanos. More threats that Tony would not have been ready to face, would not have been able to protect Earth from if the threats had looked their way.

They - the Avengers, Earth, the universe - needed Thor.

Still, Thor protests. “Tony…”

“I got this one. You can take the next,” Tony says and then walks to the edge of the ledge.

Who will he sacrifice - Pepper? Rhodey? To return back to Earth and not recognize one of their faces? No, no he can’t hurt them like that. Not after he already had, when he left in the spaceship like he did. He must sacrifice all the memories of someone he loves.

Well, he might has well as go for broke and offer up his best shot.

“How are we doing this?” Tony asks.

Lightning strikes him, and the world flashes white and then goes black.

 

_Tony is five, small for his age and so struggles to climb up to the piano bench. He finally makes it on and sits up with a proud smile._

_“Did you want to play with me?” she asks, smile warm as she looks down at him. Her fingers don’t move from the keys, where they’re playing a song Tony hasn’t heard before._

_“Will you teach me?” Tony asks, trying not to beg. His father hates it when he begs._

_She smiles warmly. “It’ll be easier when your hands are larger,” she warns, but she stops and places his hands on the keys anyway._

_Tony grins, her fingers a warm weight on his as she helps his fingers play the keys._

 

Tony opens his eyes, and he’s standing on the edge of the precipice. Gamora’s skeleton is somewhere below him, but he doesn’t look. He looks at his hand, his fist clenched. He opens it to discover the soul stone in his possession.

“Tony Stark,” Thor says as he approaches, his voice low. “Do you know me?”

Tony chuckles. “Thor, buddy - you know how this works. I told you I wasn’t in love with you.” Tony stares at the bright orange stone, wondering what just happened.

What did he lose?

Back in the Milano, it is Nebula who asks him. “Who did you lose?”

“I don’t know,” Tony says, searching his memories for holes. There’s nothing. How will he know who he’s missing? And is that better or worse, to not know?

“I have no one,” Nebula offers.

Tony thinks that’s worse, maybe, but how can he miss someone he doesn’t remember is gone?

Thor tells the rest of the Avengers what the price of the soul stone was. Thor tells them that Tony paid it.

No one is brave enough to ask Tony who he’s missing, not anymore. Maybe before the snap, Natasha or Steve would’ve dared, or maybe Tony isn’t remembering them right. But Tony knows them, knew each of the Avengers as well as Pepper who came to greet him when he stepped back on Earth.

Rhodey pulls him aside. Rhodey’s eyes contain the same pity in the rest of the Avenger’s eyes, only with more sadness.

“What do you remember about your mom?” Rhodey asks, voice soft.

Tony tilts his head. “My mom?” he repeats as he searches his memories. Of course Tony had a mother, that was the most likely scenario from a biological perspective, but he doesn’t remember anything specific about her. He only has memories of Howard. “Ah, that’s it then,” Tony realizes.

“Her name was Maria,” Rhodey tells Tony softly, kindly.

Tony soaks that piece of information in, learning it for what feels like the first time. “Maria,” he murmurs. “That’s a nice name.”

 


End file.
